Tourists point to the putrid leaking pipes.
It took two days for the city to respond to this environmental
mini-catastrophe.
Theerarak
Suthathiwong
Walking Street business owners are demanding to know
why it took two days for city workers to fix a broken valve that flooded
the southern end of Pattaya’s main entertainment area with raw sewage.
A steady flow of putrid effluent covered Walking
Street and Soi 16 between the popular Nang Nual seafood restaurant and
the Covent Garden go-go bar complex Aug. 29-30, leaving tourists fleeing
hands over faces and bars and restaurants empty.
It took until mid-day Aug. 30 for Wastewater
Treatment Plant Manager Thaen Sengchit to order workers to investigate
the broken pipe. The problem turned out to be a high-pressure valve that
burst, creating an open spigot of sewage destined for the Soi Buakaow
plant. The pipeline was shut down until the valve could be repaired.
Business owners were enraged that the city officials
who pay so much lip service to tourism promotion couldn’t be bothered
for 48 hours to solve a sewage leak that posed serious risks to both
people’s health and the city’s main industry.
